"We were, all of us, shocked and saddened, astonished, really, by Michael's Gordon death, on the weekend. He was gentle, he was wise. He was always calm in a business not known for calm," says Mr Turnbull.

"A great man, a good man, great writer and mentor. In the maelstrom of a newsroom, as political stories broke and events moved and shifted, Mickey was the personification of calm.

"He was able to do that rarest of things under pressure, reflect on what was before him rather than rush to judgement."